Like a lot of people, I had high hopes at the start of the year and wanted 2012 to be a good year. It started with me and Kevin Williams losing the SWE tag team titles to The Syndicate after I got Powerbombed through a table by Phoenix. We also wrestled WMD at a SSW show in Bo’Ness and then Williams and I wrestled each other in a match the following night in Bathgate. We also had an enjoyable match against Claymore and Meat as well at a SWE live event in Menzieshill.
I had made contacts at W3L and decided to start training there as well as SWE, just so I could see what it was like in an another environment and learn from the people who trained there also. It was there where I became more character orientated and ended up making my W3L debut in September at a live event in Elgin against The Very Good Mister Euan G Mackie. There was still more work that needed to be done character-wise, but that would come with time.
I remember really enjoying a match with Jam O’Malley at a show in Dalkeith around June time and also a gala day in Bathgate, which featured the unlikely duo of myself and Craig Byers against The Very Good Mister Euan G Mackie and Jam O’Malley representing (The Z-List). The Z-List ended up going to town on Byers that day, to the point where no ordinary man would have recovered from the pasting he got.
My times at SSW saw me develop an extensive losing streak, but I wrestled more experienced folk such as Dickie Divers and Damian O’Connor and receive stellar advice from Scott Renwick, Mikey Whiplash and Val Kabious. Prince Ameen was especially helpful in advising me about character development and ring attire and I also attended seminars hosted by Doug Williams and Fergal Devitt.
I also enjoyed SWE’s annual Hell For Lycra event in Perth, where I caught up with Darren T Goss and ended up wrestling in a four-way tag team cage match. The post-show also involved a trip to Tesco and I don’t think a lot of customers or staff members were expecting to see Tatanka, Ted DiBiase, Roddy Piper, his son Colton and Chavo Guerrero appear in the shop on their late night shop or nightshift! I also ended up driving Tatanka back to where he was staying and got to pick his brain wrestling-wise, a priceless experience to say the least.
There were times in 2012 where my passion for wrestling was strong and times where it wasn’t so much. I had lost a fair bit of the shape I previously had in regards to my physique and conditioning, developed a more negative attitude and I was not enjoying some of the shows and training sessions I was at, mainly at SWE.
October 2012 saw the eventual split of Project Revolution, with Kevin walloping me with a steel chair and joining The Syndicate at a live event in Kirkton, before I wrestled what would end up being my last ever match for SWE, but my first match in proper wrestling boots after ditching the kickpads, a 6-man tag in Ardler featuring me, Ian Ambrose and Sam Ross against The Syndicate of Chaz Phoenix, Steven Magners and Kevin Williams.
December 2012 saw me step away from SWE after not being involved in the last two shows of the year and seeing the writing on the wall. I don’t really regret my decision looking back and it was nothing against the folk there and who operates it, but I considered my departure to be within my own best interests and of no detriment to theirs.
December 2012 however, was also the genesis of Lucian Maynard Smith. An uptight Englishman that had gone through life getting what he wanted and particular about how his surname is pronounced arrived at a SSW live event in Whitburn, with The Very Good Mister Euan G Mackie as his opponent and a victory to start off the genesis. Life Before Smith was a reasonable tale, but The Life Of Smith was ultimately the next chapter. Good day
– Lucian Maynard-Smith
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